On the Run (Whispering Key #2) - May Archer Page 0,66

drop you,” I teased, holding him tighter.

“Well, I was thinking about your career concerns.” Toby gripped my arm, like he wasn’t quite sure if I was teasing. “You remember when we were plover-spotting the other day, and I said something along the lines of, ‘Beale, fake conquistador of my soul, what does a plover look like?’ And then you showed me what I should be looking for, including the forehead markings that say they’re down to mate?”

“Of course that’s the part you remember,” I said irritably. Leave it to Toby to actually find maybe the one thing I really didn’t want to discuss with him. “Yeah, so?”

“So… if you hadn’t shown me, how would I have known what I was looking for? I could have been counting bald eagles.”

“There are no bald eagles here,” I scoffed.

“The Universe doesn’t magically give you things,” Toby continued, undeterred. “You tell it what you want, right? What you visualize is what you get.”

I scowled. What was he getting at? I mean, obviously that was the way things worked. I’d visualized myself happy and fulfilled a lot. But the Universe took its own sweet time.

“I told you before, everyone has an opinion on what I ought to be doing for a career, but I like doing lots of different things. I’m happy doing lots of things. Until I know what the path is—”

“No, no, no. Beale. Precious. That is the path. That’s my point. You’re there. Revel in it. Glory in it. This is your grand future. You told the Universe you wanted a bunch of things, and it provided a bunch of things. The future is here.”

I frowned at the water. “I don’t think it’s that easy.”

“Who decides when you’re happy enough, Beale? You do. You decide when you’re as happy as you want to be. You don’t need to have crazy ambitions if they don’t feel authentic. Most people would kill to have plenty of money and spend each day doing things that make them happy. What more could you want?”

You.

I disregarded the thought immediately, but it was so ridiculous, my rhythm was thrown off and we floundered for a second.

“Sweet mother of dragons, I thought you were kidding about the dropping thing!” Toby cried.

“I was. I had a… a cramp. Sort of. Continue what you were saying.”

“Hmph. I’m not sure if—”

“Toby.”

“Look, there’s a part of me that very much wishes I could stay here, Beale, but I can’t. For one thing, I’ve lied about my identity and our relationship to absolutely everyone on the island. It’s gonna be bad enough when I inevitably fake-break-up with you,” he said mournfully, and my heart skipped a beat. “It’ll be even worse when they learn I’m not who I said I was. Plus, I’m meant for city life. Do you know, there’s not a Neiman Marcus around here for miles? You, on the other hand… you know where you belong, and it’s here.”

“It is. The idea of even visiting a city like New York gives me hives,” I told him honestly. “There’s an energy here on the island—an interconnectedness maybe—that feels right to me. Like I’d starve without it.”

“So own it. The beauty of having lots of money is doing whatever you want, right? When you’re rich, you’re not weird, you’re eccentric. So stick to your guns. Why limit yourself? If I had millions, I’d devote myself to doing nothing but visiting luxury resorts around the world so I could rank them. I’d enjoy every single minute without a care.”

Five days ago, I might have believed that.

I stared down at his wet hair, at the smooth length of his torso glowing beneath the water, at the darker line of my tanned forearms wrapped around him as he leaned against me, and at the bracelet of colorful stones wrapped around his wrist. It loosened something in my chest to see it there.

“No, you wouldn’t.”

Toby opened his mouth, then shut it again. “Alright, no I wouldn’t.” He sounded surprised and maybe a little reluctant to admit it. “Or not just that. But I’ll tell you what I wouldn’t do: I wouldn’t spend a single second worrying about the opinion of anyone who wanted to make life decisions for me. That way lies madness.” He patted my forearm. “And both Hagatha and Toby say that, for whatever our opinions are worth.”

The vulnerability in his voice made me want to hug the crap out of him, but I could just imagine how he’d react to that—like Marjorie when she